Vitamin C is considered one of the safest and most effective nutrients, and is especially known for its benefits for the immune system.
Also, according to Frances Phillips, a nutritionist specializing in beauty, vitamin C also has miraculous properties when it comes to skin health. In fact, not providing your skin with enough vitamin C can be a worrying problem.
Although it’s easy to get our daily dose of vitamin C, we don’t always get enough, so it’s important to know which foods and vegetables contain the most vitamin C. Rich sources of vitamin C include raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, papaya, spinach, peppers, kale, kiwi, parsley, sweet potatoes and citrus fruit.
A serving of spinach, for example, has 28 milligrams of vitamin C, an orange has 82 milligrams, and a bell pepper has 96 milligrams.
Why your skin needs vitamin C
Not getting enough of this important nutrient can take a heavy toll on our skin. Dr. Phillips says there are several reasons why vitamin C is a key nutrient for skin health. Vitamin C is able to function as an antioxidant because it loses electrons easily, so vitamin C can stabilize free radicals that damage tissue. The skin can be damaged by free radicals from pollution, cigarette smoke and exposure to UV rays.
Dr. Phillips argues that without antioxidants to protect us from these environmental toxins, free radicals would damage the skin, leading to premature ageing.
What’s more, because it helps absorb collagen, vitamin C gives the skin a glow. Collagen is found in foods such as eggs, fish, meat and bone meal (as well as supplements) and helps prevent wrinkles from forming as quickly, keeping skin tight. Dr. Phillips says that whenever anyone consumes collagen (whether it’s a food or supplement), it’s always a good idea to combine it with vitamin C, as this will make the collagen better absorbed into the body.
By supporting the normal formation of collagen, vitamin C is effective in healing and healing wounds sustained from burns, cuts or exposure to UV rays.
How vitamin C deficiency affects the skin
Because vitamin C helps your skin glow, one effect you may notice immediately when you don’t consume enough is that your skin turns dry and dull.
But Dr Phillips says there are more harmful effects: the most noticeable signs of vitamin C deficiency are light bleeding gums and broken blood vessels under the skin. Both are due to vitamin C’s role in maintaining the integrity of blood vessels.
If the vitamin C intake falls below one-fifth of the recommended daily value, the nutritionist says that the deficiency will cause even more health problems: feeling weak and tired, irritability and sadness, joint pain and skin that turns slightly red.
In conclusion, if your skin is dull and dry or small wrinkles appear, it could be a sign that you should increase your vitamin C intake.
It also doesn’t hurt to apply a topical product to your skin to prevent signs of premature ageing. Creams and serums based on pure vitamin C (ascorbic acid) also amplify the effect of SPF creams, so you’ll be doubly protected from pigmentation spots and wrinkles.